Suspect Hacker Arrested in Sony Pictures Breach

Published 7:23 PM ET Thu, 22 Sept 2011
CNBC.com

Getty Images

A suspected of member of the clandestine hacking group LulzSec was arrested in Arizona on Thursday on charges of taking part in an extensive computer breach of the Sony Pictures Entertainment film studio, the FBI said.

A federal grand jury indictment returned earlier this month and unsealed on Thursday charges Cody Kretsinger, 23, with conspiracy and the unauthorized impairment of a protected computer in connection with the attack in May and June.

The nine-page indictment said Kretsinger and co-conspirators obtained confidential information from Sony Pictures' computer systems using an "SQL injection" attack against its website, a technique commonly used by hackers to exploit vulnerabilities and steal information.